Explore the Native American Nations

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Explore the Native American Nations
The Native American Nations of North America
cultivated the natural resources around them to
provide food and housing materials. They
adapted to their environments, and their culture
grew from those adaptations. Just as the
climate and geography of North America varies
tremendously, so too did the cultural groups that
scattered across our great continent. Click to
learn more about them.
Seminole
Pawnee
Inuit
Nez Perce
Hopi
Kwakiutl
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Click on an area of the map to learn about the
Native peoples who lived there. Use your field
book to record the important details you find.
Click the map icon in the top left corner to
return to this page at any time.
USGS Map
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Hopi of the Southwest

• The Hopi
• Lived in the low, flat desert and high plateaus
  of the dry Southwest
• Grew beans, squash, and maize (corn )
• Built large pueblo homes with many rooms
• Were the first in the world to fire clay pottery

Photograph courtesy The Library of Congress
Greetings, Historian! Check out the Hopi to
discover ways the Hopi used the natural
resources around them.
Use your field book to guide your search and
record your answers.
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Kwakiutl of the Northwest

• The Kwakiutl
• Lived near the Pacific coast.
• Built large homes from cedar trees.
• Made clothes from cedar tree bark.
• Caught a surplus of salmon, which they dried and
  ate year-round

Photograph courtesy The Library of Congress
Greetings, Historian!
Use your field book to guide your search and
record your answers.
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Pawnee of the Great Plains

• The Pawnee
• Grew corn, squash, and beans half of the year
• Hunted buffalo during the other half of the year
• Built permanent lodges using bark, earth, and
  grass

Photograph courtesy The Library of Congress
Greetings, Historian! Check out the Smithsonian
National Museum of American History to learn more
about the Pawnees by analyzing their artwork.
Use your field book to guide your search and
record your answers.
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Nez Perce of the Northwest

• The Nez Perce
• Lived in the plateaus and the valleys of what is
  now known as north central Idaho, Montana,
  northeastern Oregon, and southeastern Washington,
  an area of about seventeen million acres.
• Traveled and fished along their many rivers every
  season.
• Migrated to hunt and gather during summer and
  fall.

Photograph courtesy The Library of Congress
Greetings, Historian! Check out the Nez Perce
National Historical Park to discover ways the
Nez Perce used the natural resources around them.
Use your field book to guide your search and
record your answers.
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Nez Perce

• Lived in Plateau region
• Migrated throughout the region to take advantage
  of the resources
• In spring-caught salmon
• Summer Fall-hunted and gathered plants and
  berries
• Winter-settled in villages and lived on food they
  had

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The Inuit of Alaska and Northwest Canada

• Inuit
• Lived in the extreme arctic climate of Northwest
  Canada
• Traveled and fished along the ocean and seashore
  every season.
• Built igloo homes out of ice and snow
• Wore thick clothing made from caribou (reindeer)
  and seal hides

Photograph courtesy The National Archives
Greetings, Historian! Check out the above links
to discover ways the Inuit used the natural
resources around them.
Use your field book to guide your search and
record your answers.
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Seminoles of the Southeast

• The Seminoles
• Lived in what is now know as Florida
• Wore light clothing made of grass and thin cloth
• Built roundhouses made of wooden poles covered
  with clay and bark, sometimes without walls

Photograph courtesy The Library of Congress
Greetings, Historian! Check out the Seminole
Tribe of Florida to discover ways the Seminoles
used the natural resources around them.
Use your field book to guide your search and
record your answers.